Michael mocaett



(No Model.)

M. MoGARTY FASTENING FOR TIED PAGKAGES.

Patented Dec, 22, 1886.

INVI ITOR WITNTBS ATTORNEYS.

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STATES MICHAEL MOOARTY, OF NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.

FASTENING FOR TlED PACKAGES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 332,925, dated December 22, 1885.

Application filed May 20, 1885. Serial No. 166,191. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, MICHAEL MoOARTY, of Newport, in the county of Newport and State of Rhode Island, have invented a new and Improved Fastening for Tied Packages, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to devices for inclosing and securing the tied or knotted ends of strings, cords, wires, or chains used in tying packages of various descriptions; and it consists in a combination, with a seal-like device made either of paper, metal, or other suitable material, having folding-over flaps to hold the knot or tied part in between them and the center or body part of the folding-seal, of a turning staple attachment secured to one of the flaps, and serving as it is turned to pass consecutively through specially-arranged slots in the remaining flaps and the invention furthermore consists in a combination, with these several devices, of a padlock or other lock applied to the staple of the fastening. Said fastening is designed to prevent any tampering with the package after it has once been tied or fastened without exposing such attempt.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 represents a face or back view of a tied package having my improved fastening applied thereto before said fastening is closed over the knotted or tied ends of the string, cord, or other binder. Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5 are face views of the fastening applied to the string or cord at different stages in the closing of the fastening. Fig. 6 is a face view showing a modified construction of the fastening before the fastening is closed; and Fig. 7, a sectional view of the same closed on the line 00 m in Fig. 6, and showing a padlock applied to the fastening.

In Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the drawings, A indicates a flexible seal-fastening made either of thick paper, pasteboard, flexible metal, or other flexible material, having a quadrilateral center or body part, I), and flaps o d e f, arranged to project respectively from the several marginal portions of said body part, and with notches or cut-away portions 9 between the flaps at their junction with the body I) to receive the crossing string or binderB by which the package G is tied. By suitably shaping or proportioning, however, the several flaps rela tively to each other, and at their junction with the center part of the seal, these notches or incisions 9 may be dispensed with.

In Figs. 6 and 7 the construction is substantially the same, but here the fastening A, instead of being made of flexible material to permit of the folding of the flaps, is made of rigid metal or material both as regards its center or body part, I), which may be dishshaped to receive the knot of the cord or binder within it, and its flaps c d e f, which are hinged to the body part b to permit of the folding of the flaps. One of the flaps, c, has attached to it a turning staple, D, which may be made of wire, crooked or bent in any suitable manner, and the other flaps, d of, have slots h in them of a size to receive the outer end portion of the staple through them, and to permit of its shank being turned within them. These slots, when the fastening A is unfolded or extended, all run toward the center or body part 1).

Thus constructed, and provided either before or when using the fastening with the staple D, the seal or fastening A is slipped under the cord B on the package 0, and adjusted so that the knot It lies centrally or thereabout on, over, or within the body part b, and so that the crossed cord B passes through between the flaps where they join the body of the seal, as shown in Fig. 1. The flap c is then turned down over the knot, as shown in Fig. 2, the outer portion of the staple projecting above said flap. Then the flap dis similarly shut down, and so that the protruding end of the staple will pass through the slot h in it, the staple being suitably turned to pass it therethrough and afterward turned crosswise of the slot, as shown in Fig. 3. The staple D having been thus turned, the flap e is next shut down,and the staple passed through its slot 71, and again turned a quarter of a circle, as shown in Fig. 4, when or after which the fiapf is shut down with thestaple projecting through its slot h, and the staple afterward turned out of line with said slot, as shown in Figs. 5 and 7. This completes the closing of the foldingseal fastening A over the knot and with the knotted or tied end of the binder within it, and the many necessary turns given the staple will make said fastening moderately secure, or so that it will serve as a check to counteract any attempt to tamper with the package by untying it, especially if the seal A be made of paper or material liable to fracture, as it would then be extremely difficult orimpossible to pass the flaps from off the staple and turn the latter without mutilating the fastening. To make the fastening, however, more secure, I lock the staple D, after the seal or fastening A has been fully closed, as described, with any suitable lock as, for instance, by a combination or other pad lock, E. The package then only can be opened by destroying the fastening A, cutting the binder B, ul bursting the package itself, or picking or otherwise opening the lock securing the fastening.

Having thus described my invention,I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A fastening for tied packages, in which is combined a folding seal having a series of flaps, the one of which is provided with a rotatable staple and the others with slots for the staple to pass through and turn in, said slots being arranged so as to occupy crossing positions in relation with each other consecutively when the flaps are turned down or closed, substantially as specified.

2. The seal-fastening A, having folding flaps c (1 cf, the three, cl cf, of which have slots h in them, arranged as described, in combination with the rotatable staple D, attached to the remaining flap, c, essentially as herein set forth.

3. The combination of a lock with the staple D, and the foldingseal fastening A, having a center or body part, I), and flaps c d e f, with slots h arranged in relation to each other in certain of the flaps of the seal-fastening, substantially as shown and described.

MICHAEL MoGARTY. lVitnesscs:

WM. D. LAKE, HENRY N. WARD. 

